The Wake County school board may make it possible for teachers to recommend that students be placed in a lower math class than recommended by the data.

During today's school board work session, board member Jim Martin said he's still not a fan of the new middle school math placement policy. But Martin said that if they're going to do it they should modify the wording so that a teacher can recommend a lower placement and not just the parent.

The board didn't object to including that wording. This is an example where school board member John Tedesco's absence today could impact the result.

UPDATE

The revised version of the math placement policy was approved 5-3 with board chairman Kevin Hill and board members Susan Evans and Jim Martin voting no.

Wake County school board member John Tedesco is skipping today's board meeting to attend a debate for his bid for state schools superintendent.

At the start of today's work session, school board chairman Kevin Hill said Tedesco expressed his regrets that he couldn't come because of a prior commitment. That prior commitment is a Council of State debate for Republican Primary candidates in Winston-Salem sponsored by the Forsyth County Republican Men’s Club, NC Tea Party and Wake Forest College.

"Tonight I will be at the Council of State debate. You can watch it streaming live," Tedesco posted on his Facebook page. "Unfortunately for me, our new Chairman Mr. Hill scheduled a special called meeting after I already committed to the debate, so I will be missing my first school board meeting."

UPDATE

Here's a comment posted on the debate forum Facebook page from one of Tedesco's opponents, Union County school board member David Scholl, about why he wasn't attending the forum.

"I wish I could participate, but I have a school board meeting this afternoon/evening," Scholl posted. "I have a commitment to my community that is important for me to carry out. For more info on me and my vision, please see http://on.fb.me/xsWy9O or www.scholl4schools.com."

School board member Debra Goldman said she declined her invitation as a GOP candidate for state auditor to attend the forum because her primary responsiblity is to be on the board.

"I have to do my sworn duty as a board member," Goldman said.

Goldman declined comment on Tedesco skipping the board meeting.

Is the Wake County school system only postponing the layoffs of hundreds of teachers and other school employees for one more year?

As noted in today's article, Superintendent Tony Tata's proposal to use $29 million out of the $34.6 million in the undesignated fund balance effectively replaces the $28 million in one-time federal dollars that saved more than 500 teaching jobs this school year.

If the school board goes with Tata's recommendation, they'll be able to keep those positions funded for the 2012-13 school year. But it's iffy at best that the money can be found again for the 2013-14 school year.

Should the Wake County school board open meetings with a prayer?

Email records indicate that the Republican board members are more receptive to the idea of having prayer to open meetings. Democratic board member Jim Martin, who was sworn in on the U.S. Constitution instead of a Bible, cautioned against the idea.

The conversations started when school board member Debra Goldman emailed the board and board attorney Ann Majestic on Jan. 19 asking what Wake's policies were in relation to prayer at meetings.

Could the Wake County school board make one more change to the student assignment plan for this fall?

The only change the board made last week was to accept the staff recommendation to increase the percentage of magnet seats at Poe Elementary School. But school board member Jim Martin unsuccessfully tried to call for a vote on having staff keep magnet schools within their projected percentage of magnet seats.

Wake has divided the magnet schools into three groups.

Supporters and critics of Wake County's proposed math placement policy both sought the moral high ground during this week's school board discussion.

Critics of the policy argued that using too low a placement standard would do students a disservice and give them a weak math foundation. Supporters of the policy argued they were trying to promote equitable access to rigorous courses.

School board member Jim Martin got the discussion going Tuesday when he proposed a motion to indefinitely postpone the policy in favor of implementing this charge.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

The new Wake County student assignment plan is still a hard sell for at least some real estate agents.

As noted in today's article and in today's column by Burgetta Wheeler, the elimination of base assignments is forcing real estate agents to change how they market schools. For instance, they're now being told by the Wake County Board of Realtors they can no longer put in home listings that they're assigned to specific schools.

The Triangle Multiple Listing Services listed the new assignment plan as a wild card in the area housing market in its January newsletter.

Pencil in March 6 for the date when the Wake County school board could make changes for this fall to the new student assignment plan.

School administrators told the board on Tuesday that they want to wait until they get all the data in from the first round of the selection process before they make recommendations for any adjustments. The application period ends at 10 p.m. Friday.

Chief Transformation Officer Judy Peppler told the board they may recommend adjustments in four areas: whether seat set-asides should be allocated for some or all of the high-performing schools, the percentage of magnet vs. base students at some schools, options for students whose feeder doesn't include transportation and sibling priority in grades 1-5, 7-8 and 10-12.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

As the Wake County school system moves to the common core for math, what role should teacher judgment play in placing students and what criteria should be used for placement in the super-advanced track?

As noted in today's article, the school board is supposed to discuss the math placement policy on Tuesday. A number of questions still have to be resolved, such as whether a policy is needed and whether an EVAAS probability predictor of 70 percent is the right floor for placement.

But another issue to be resolved is what to do about teacher judgment.

Wake County school board member John Tedesco is turning Stephen Colbert's mocking criticism of him into a tool to help him get elected as state schools superintendent.

On his campaign website, Tedesco uses a cropped screenshot of his picture on Colbert's "Disintegration" segment from January 2011. Last year, critics of the Republican board majority repeatedly pointed to the segment on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."

"Opposition, obstructionists, and status quo bureaucrats are met head-on by John Tedesco's pledge to his constituents," says Tedesco's website. "This has caused fans and critics alike in the media to chronicle his every move; some just waiting to see what he will do next. The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, LA Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, Education Weekly, and more have joined North Carolina's news outlets WRAL, ABC 11, NBC 17, News 14, and The News & Observer in their coverage of Mr. Tedesco."

Tedesco includes a line from a not terribly flattering New York Times story in February 2011 that says "since he was elected, his ups and downs have been chronicled practically daily in the media." (The website incorrectly says it was a 2010 article.)